Requesters of CMS data are solely responsible for the completeness and accuracy of their data request.
During the request process, the requester will be asked to explicitly confirm the accuracy of the request and acknowledge the below disclaimers when submitting the signed documents to ResDAC.
Disclaimers
- Information listed in the RIF Specifications Worksheet is accurate and complete. This includes study design, cohort selection criteria, files and years requested, and data files being reused.
- You have reviewed the documentation for each Research Identifiable File published on the ResDAC and Chronic Conditions Warehouse (CCW) websites to ensure that the files meet the needs of the study.
- As appropriate, CSV files with ICD/HCPCS codes contain all necessary codes. Wildcards cannot be used. Ranges are not allowed.
- Submitted finder files contain only the identifiers that were specified in the RIF Specifications Worksheet.
- Any changes made to the requested data files and years after the final Cost Invoice has been approved by the requester will result in a re-start of the ResDAC review process. Changes made after approval by CMS will require an amendment to the DUA. Changes after the data has been extracted and shipped will require both an approved amendment and payment of fees for the new files. Errors in the cohort specifications are the responsibility of the requester and not ResDAC, CMS or any of its representatives/contractors.
Data quality
- You accept the quality of the data you receive. CMS does not ensure 100% accuracy of all records and all fields. Some data fields may contain incorrect or incomplete data.
- Users must familiarize themselves with the detailed data dictionaries for the files they request.
Data integrity
- Any alteration of the original data, including conversion to other media or other data formats, is the responsibility of the requester. Data that has been manipulated or reprocessed by the requester is the responsibility of the requester.
- CMS will discuss only the original data delivered to determine that the initial request has been properly processed. CMS has no responsibility for the data after it has been converted, processed or otherwise altered. CMS has no responsibility for assisting requesters with converting the data to another format.
- Questions about CMS data must be addressed to CMS within 90 days of receipt of data.